Minnesota chef Ann Kim on her Martha Stewart Living cameo and a possible Young Joni frozen pizza

If you find yourself in the kitchen a lot these days, perhaps an upgrade to your cooking tools and attire is in order.

Ann Kim, the James Beard Award-winning chef and co-owner of Young Joni, Pizzeria Lola and Hello Pizza in Minneapolis — and now, fashion icon — gives us a peek in her closets and drawers in the next issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

In a slide show online and a spread in print, Kim shares her "favorite things" — from a chef coat to almonds.

To prepare the story, which features a different celebrity every month, the magazine quizzed Kim on all sorts of topics, then made the final selection. It all started about four months ago, Kim said. "They asked me, and I was totally honored, flattered, and I was like, 'Are you sure?'"

It was a special treat for Kim, a former actress, who took home the 2019 Beard Award for Best Chef: Midwest. "Martha's a queen," she said. "I used to watch her show religiously, and I used to subscribe and keep all of the monthly magazines in little boxes."

Now that the story is out, she worried at first that "it's really frivolous. But you know, we need these simple pleasures. My go-to nuts are bringing a lot of comfort and I think people want some of that right now."

Here are more of her picks: Wusthof Classic 8-inch Cook's Knife; Petal Pushing Denim Apron; Patagonia Spanish Paprika Mackerel; Korres Wild Rose Lip Butter.

She also shared that the bestselling dish at Young Joni is the Korean BBQ pizza, which makes sense, given her "closet is just like her menus — full of classics with an irreverent twist," according to the magazine.

Good news for fans of that pie: Kim is working on a recipe to sell parbaked and frozen pizzas to help her company weather coronavirus-related losses.(She has not set a date to reopen her dining rooms.)

"You have to be creative right now," she said. "It could be this way for the foreseeable future."

She's been experimenting and thinks she's landed on the recipe. All she needs now is a walk-in freezer. It's on her wish list.

Sharyn Jackson • 612-673-4853

@SharynJackson